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SOCH111 – History of Healing
www.endeavour.edu.au
Session 13
Middle Eastern and
Traditional Jewish
Medicines
Department of Social
Sciences
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 2
Session Aims
o To examine both traditional and scholarly/
philosophical forms of medicine in the historical
Middle East in Persian, Arabic and Jewish
cultures
o To define the role and contributions of Persian
and Arabic physicians/philosophers in the
history of Western/scientific medicine
o To discuss the whole medical system of Unani-
Tibb and its similarities to Eastern systems
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Middle East
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=188718
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Historical Timeframes
o Judaism established as a religion— ~2000 BCE
o Persian Empire—6th century BCE to 7th century
CE
o Byzantine/Eastern Roman Empire—4th to 15th
century CE
o Islam established as a religion—7th century CE
o Islamic Empire—7th century to 13th century CE
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Persian Empire
By Ali Zifan - Own work. CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44126712
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Culture and Religiono Historically similar to Indian
culture and spirituality
o Zoroastrianism: connected
somewhat to the Vedas and
Egyptian symbology
o Cosmology of the world as a
battlefield, man as a
microcosm of that
o Concepts of soul, afterlife,
judgment, heaven and hell,
and free will
By Roodiparse - Own work, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6822093
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Persian Medicine
o Human body is a microcosm of
the Universe and understood in
relation to the external world
o Promotion of the development
of science; human dissection
practiced
o Influenced by pre-Hippocratic
Greek and Syrian philosophies
o 3rd century CE: first university
teaching hospital established in
southwest PersiaBy Arabischer Maler des Kräuterbuchs
des Dioskurides - Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/inde
x.php?curid=147655
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Byzantine Empire
By Tataryn - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19926428
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 9
Culture and Religiono Re-establishment of Greek
culture
o Greek Orthodox Christianity
o Strong trade-based economy
o Abundant food resources,
areas of wealth
o Robust military forces
o High standard of living and
public health in cities, with
sewers and water systems
Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid
=2069094
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Transmission of Knowledge
o Classical Greco-Roman
culture, science and
philosophy preserved in
Byzantine Empire whilst it
dissipated in Western
Europe
o Women participated in
intellectual life of the
culture
o Greatest Byzantine writer
was female historian Anna
Comnené
By (C) copyright © Coptic Museum, Egypt. Uploaded by
mcorazao, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3930092
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Byzantine Medicineo Re-invigoration of historical
Greco-Roman medicine and
texts
o First culture in which church and
state hospitals widely flourished,
and with walk-in dispensaries,
formed the hubs of medicine
o Charitable and monastic
medicine played key roles
o Monastery libraries were key to
copying and preservation of
classical knowledgePublic Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52139
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Islamic Empire
By DieBuche - Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10802592
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Religion and Cultureo Muhammed viewed as a third prophet following on
Moses and Jesus bringing a restoration to
monotheistic Abrahamic faith
o Writings of the Qu’ran and Hadith (‘wise sayings’)
were closely followed by his adherents
o Powerful and wealthy empire, great cities built,
extensive trade routes established, as well as
schools, universities and mosques
o Bath houses part of culture, as Qu’ran emphasized
hygiene and cleanliness
o Islam also strongly emphasized importance of
learning, and books were highly valued
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 14
Transmission of Knowledge
o Arabic scholars were the major
bridge for transmission of
ancient Greco-Roman
philosophy and medicine to
Europe leading into the Middle
Ages
o Many texts would have been
lost forever if not for Arabic
translations that were
eventually translated into Latin
and other European languages
By Abu Ali Ibn Sina - Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index
.php?curid=9362194
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Developments in Scienceo Persian Arabic physicians
influenced by Byzantine,
Indian, Chinese, and other
areas of the Islamic empire
o Evidence that Persian
physicians were involved in
human dissection, which
was strictly forbidden
o The Qu’ran describes the
process of embryogenesis,
including development of
organsPublic Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16599801
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 16
Alchemyo Knowledge and practices
around how to prepare
medicines
o Named and characterised
many different substances,
some of which had
medicinal value
o Many drugs now in use are
of Arabic origin, as well as
processes such as
distillation and sublimationBy Codici Ashburnhamiani 1166, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curi
d=163740
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 17
Revision Questions
o What were some of the paths of transmission and
development of knowledge from the ancient Greco-
Roman period into the medieval period?
o What were some of the influences of religion and
culture through this period?
Other food for thought:o What do you think the benefits and challenges
were of blending historical Greco-Roman, Indian,
Chinese, and Persian medical thought under the
influence of the religions of that time?
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 18
Ibn Rāzī (Rhazes)o ~850 - ~930 CE
o Muslim philosopher and
alchemist considered to
have been the greatest
physician of the Islamic
empire
o Atomic theory of composition
of matter, similar to
Democritus
o Differential diagnosis: the
idea that different diseases
might have similar signs
and symptoms
By Gerardus Cremonensis - Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php
?curid=3691634
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 19
Ibn Rāzī (Rhazes)
o ~900 CE, set up and ran a
new hospital in Baghdad
o Wrote ~200 medical texts
o First to describe
differences between
smallpox and measles
o Described fever not as part
of the illness but as an
indication that the body
was fighting illnessBy Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-
Razi - Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org
/w/index.php?curid=673628
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Ibn Sīnā/Avicenna
o ~980 - 1037 CE
o Most famous of the philosopher-
scientists of the medieval Islamic
world
o Wrote over 240 books on
mathematics/geometry,
astronomy, metaphysics, physics,
philology, geography, geology,
alchemy, music and poetry, as
well as medicine
o Unified classification of all
knowledge
By Adam Jones CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/in
dex.php?curid=30320426
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Canon of Medicine
o Completed in 1025 CE
o Most comprehensive medical text
to date
o Encyclopaedia of diseases,
naming causes and symptoms,
and suggesting treatments
o Comprised of five books
o Translation of the Canon from
Arabic to Latin was how ancient
Greek medical knowledge was
transmitted to Europe
By http://www.library.yale.edu/oacis/scopa/scopa_ibnsina_ms5.html, Public
Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1317972
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 22
Ibn Sīnā/Avicennao Correlation of sweet urine to
diabetes
o Asthma treatment considered
more effective than modern
medicine
o Treatment of liver disease in
alignment with modern research
o Wine as a wound dressing,
commonly used in medieval
Europe
o Reduction of spinal deformities
using pressure and tractionBy Nick Taylor - CC BY 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php
?curid=4583624
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 23
Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides)
o Born 1135 in Islamic
Spain, died 1204 in Egypt
o Jewish philosopher,
scholar, physician, jurist;
foremost intellectual
figure of medieval
Judaism
o Wrote many important
texts on religion,
philosophy and medicine,
influencing both Jewish
and non-Jewish scholars
By Almog - Own work, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2221338
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 24
Other Medical Scholarso Masuya (Ibn Masawaih)
777-857 CE: Persian
Christian physician,
original anatomical
studies
o Abu al-Qasim (Albucasis)
936-1013 CE: greatest
Arabic medieval surgeon,
shaped European surgical
procedures until the
Renaissance By Abu'l Qasim al-
Zahrawi - Public
Domain,
https://commons.wiki
media.org/w/index.p
hp?curid=1676316
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Arabic Medicineo Arabic towns and cities
had hospitals, often more
than one
o Doctors, once trained,
were given a license to
practice
o Doctors were a mix of
Muslims, Jews and
Christians, and not all
were native to the region
o Surgeons were held in
lower regard than
physicians
By Mxcil - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19926867
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 26
Unani-Tibb
o Unani = “Greek/Ionian”
o Tibb = “medicine”
o Unani-Tibb = the system of
medicine that developed
during Arab civilisation out
of the Greek system of
humoral medicine
o Foundational treatise:
Avicenna’s Canon of
MedicineBy
http://www.library.yale.edu/oacis/scopa/sco
pa_ibnsina_ms5.html, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.ph
p?curid=1317972
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 27
Four Temperaments
o Sanguine—Air/Blood
o Choleric—Yellow Bile/Fire
o Melancholic—Black Bile/Earth
o Phlegmatic—Phlegm/Water
o Temperament: an individual’s
physical constitution,
susceptibilities and tendencies
within an elemental frameworkOriginal source, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/i
ndex.php?curid=809041
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 28
Four Temperaments
o The temperament of a person is the dominant
humour in their body
o Imbalance in temperament predisposes the body
and mind to various diseases
o Air, water, food, rest, activity, work, elimination of
wastes, sleep, etc. will influence balance or
imbalance of temperament
o Drugs and foods are also classified by their
temperament and will have specific influence on the
balance of the humours based on that classification
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 29
Healing Principleso Six essential factors for
temperament:
• Ambient air
• Food and drink
• Physical activity and rest
• Emotions and feelings
• Sleep and wakefulness
• Retention of fluids and
evacuation of wastes
o Gentlest treatments
possible used to restore
balance of humoursBy Tom Lemmens - CC0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.
php?curid=26471210
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 30
Healing Practiceso Emphasis on clinical
observation and recording
signs and symptoms
o Materia medica became
blended with that of Ayurveda
o Advances in drug preparation
and other methods of
chemistry, such as distillation
o Invention of methods of
anaesthesia (but surgery only
a last resort)By Evelyn Simak, CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ind
ex.php?curid=14132749
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 31
Revision Questions
o Name three luminaries of Arabic medicine in the
Middle Ages.
o What were the contributions of the Canon of
Medicine to Western medical history?
Other food for thought:o Many aspects of Greco-Arabic medicine migrated
to Western Europe, whilst others, such as
anaesthesia and hygiene, did not. Why do you
think that is?
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 32
Jewish History o Stemming from the history of
the ancient Israelites as
recounted in the Bible
o Origins ~2000 BCE
o Centred in Israel and
surrounding lands, but with
cultural interaction with a wide
variety of other early
civilisations, including Egyptian,
Babylonian, and Greco-Roman
By Marcin n® ☼ CC
BY-SA 2.5,
https://commons.wikim
edia.org/w/index.php?c
urid=1970413
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Culture and Religion
o Belief in obedience to God’s
law, as told through Moses
and documented in the
Torah, in all aspects of
communal and individual life
o All behavior, as well as law,
social customs, diet, ethics
and medicine, are tied to
religious laws
o Based on the concept of a
personal and communal
relationship with God
By HOWI - Horsch, Willy - CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.p
hp?curid=3187456
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Traditional Jewish Medicineo Old Testament contains references to quarantine
and health protection, sanitary regulations on meat
handling, rapid burial processes and social hygiene
o Midwives are mentioned as well as physicians
o Treatments mentioned include healing waters and
bathing, anointing with oils, wine, balms and
medicinal compresses, and splinting fractures, as
well as health benefits of music
o Medicinal plant resins of gum, balm and laudanum
(opium) are mentioned, as well as myrrh, cassia,
cinnamon and hyssop
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 35
The Talmud
o Hebrew text written by a large number of Rabbis
through the 5th century CE that is the basis for all
Jewish law
o Widely covers law, ethics, philosophy, customs,
medicine, history and cultural lore
o Mar Samuel:
greatest Talmudic
physician
Public Domain,
https://commons.wik
imedia.org/w/index.p
hp?curid=2177328
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 36
Talmudic Medicineo Most medicines from
plants and trees,
including oils
o Most important animal
medicine is honey
o Many common foods
used as medicines
o Drugs prepared by
cooking, pulverising to
powders, or making
into salves or poulticesBy George Shuklin - Own work, CC BY-SA 1.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6409726
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 37
Healing Principleso Sympathy: a variant
on “like cures like”
o Contact: objects in
contact with each
other continue to
influence after contact
ends
o Antipathy: an object
or substance that
drives something else
away
By Bluewind - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26043424
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 38
Role of Superstition/Magic
o Segulot: particular object that
has an “occult virtue” used as
a magical remedy, a charm
o Many superstitious “cures”
and preventative practices/
rituals
o Rabbis concerned about
superstition, but allowed it
indicating that anything used
for therapeutic purposes
would not be considered
superstitioushttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki
/File%3ASefer_raziel_segulot.png
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 39
Healing Ritualso Recitation of passages
from the Torah; prayer
o Repetition of treatments a
certain number of times
o Transferring an illness
from a person to another
object or being
o Preservation of Germanic
magical cures
o Changing a person’s
nameBy Edward Poynter - Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/ind
ex.php?curid=14659481
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 40
Healing Waters
o Use of natural
springs and other
healing waters was
a well-known
healing modality
o Hot springs of
Tiberias on the
shore of the Sea of
Galilee are famous By Unknown - Postcard: UVACHROM 6067, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7580299
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 41
Traditional Jewish Herbalism
o St Johns Wort: used as a
diuretic and expectorant
o Fennel: for abdominal
disorders and threatened
miscarriage
o Sage: as a cure for
paralysis and to aid
digestion (mixed with
saltpeter, bay and
cinnamon) By Franz Eugen Köhler, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.
php?curid=255453
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 42
Medieval Periodo With formal role of physician
established, narrow line
between physicians and
traditional healers
o Physicians seen as powerful
across realms of both
science and religion
o Balancing the humours
played a key role alongside
the more superstitious and
traditional practices
By http://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/image/L0004087.html, CC
BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35866840
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 43
Revision Questions
o What was the relationship between religion and
medicine in historical Jewish culture?
o List three types of healing practices used in
traditional Jewish medicine.
Other food for thought:o Why do you think the concept of the four elements
and four humours was so easily adopted across
different cultures?
© Endeavour College of Natural Health www.endeavour.edu.au 44
Referenceso DiStefano, V 2006, Holism and complementary medicine: origins and principles, Allen & Unwin, Crows
Nest, NSW. [ebook available]
o Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Abu Al-Qasim, viewed 25 July 2016 <https://www.Britannica.com/biography/Abu-al-Qasim>.
o Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Al-Razi, viewed 25 July 2016 <https://www.Britannica.com/biography/al-Razi>.
o Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Avicenna, viewed 25 July 2016 <https://www.britannica.com/biography/Avicenna>.
o Encyclopedia Britannica Online, History of Medicine, viewed 27 July 2016 <https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-medicine/Hellenistic-and-Roman-medicine#toc35652>.
o Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Judaism, viewed 1 August 2016 <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Judaism>.
o Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Moses Maimonides, viewed 25 July 2016 <https://www.Britannica.com/biography/Moses-Maimonides>.
o Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Zoroastrianism, viewed 27 July 2016 <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zoroastrianism/Practices-and-institutions>.
o Jabin, F 2011, ‘A Guiding Tool in Unani Tibb for Maintenance and Preservation of Health: A Review Study’, Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med, vol. 8, no. 5 (Suppl), pp 140–143 viewed 1 August 2016 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3252723/>.
o Kayne, SB 2010, Traditional medicine: a global perspective, Pharmaceutical Press, London.
o Kelly, N et al 2002, Medicine through time, 2nd edn, Heinemann, Oxford.
o Mohammadali, MS and Tubbs, RS 2007, ‘The History of Anatomy in Persia’, Journal of Anatomy, vol. 210, no. 4, pp 359–378. viewed 26 July 2016 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2100290/>.
o Moosavi, J 2009, ‘The Place of Avicenna in the History of Medicine’, Avicenna J Med Biotechnol, vol. 1, no. 1, pp 3–8. viewed 26 July 2016 <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3558117/>.
o Science Museum Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine, Unani-Tibb, viewed 29 July 2016 <http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/techniques/unanitibb>.